Dare ask, ‘what’s all the fuss about?’, and you’ll soon regret it – faced with death threats, doxing and internet pile-ons orchestrated by her rabid fanbase, the Swifties.Books of teased ‘poetic’ lyrics scrawled on tea-stained paper – the same kind you made in fifth grade for that treasure map school project – were roundly mocked online. Each page was signed off neatly with Spotify’s logo – soooo classy – while other shelf items included kitschy busts, clocks and old-timey globes meant to look vintage and academic.
And then there were the lyrics themselves. Early snatchings of the Taylor’s great thesis to come, examples of which included: ‘my muses, acquired like bruises’; ‘even statues crumble, if they’re made to wait’; and ‘as she was leaving, it felt like breathing.’